Correct, passive mode works.
I have had the fob apart, cleaned all contacts, made sure there was tension where it needed to be, made sure the battery was fresh, etc. I will go through it again, but don't think that's going to get me there.
Re: give this thing away. I'm getting too old, tired and lazy to want to put a bunch of effort into this at this point and certainly not a bunch of money. If it's going to need a new fob/ECU on top of the valve adjustment it's going to need, it just doesn't have much monetary value.